Unofficial death toll may be over 90,000: US medics in Gaza
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Surgeons, physicians, and nurses recount their experiences volunteering in Gaza amid 'Israel's' ongoing genocide in a letter addressed to US President Joe Biden
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Palestinians hold the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, July 16, 2024 (AP)
Some 45 physicians and nurses who volunteered in Gaza have written a letter addressed to the Biden administration, which arrived on Thursday, stating that "Israel" claimed the lives of over 90,000 Palestinians during its ongoing genocide in the Strip and highlighting the occupation's war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.
"President Biden and Vice-President Harris, any solution to this problem must begin with an immediate and permanent ceasefire," the eight-page letter said, demanding the United States impose an arms embargo against the occupation regime, as well as withdraw its diplomatic, economic, and military support until a ceasefire is implemented.
The 92,000 death toll
"It is likely that the death toll from this conflict is already greater than 92,000, an astonishing 4.2% of Gaza's population," the medics wrote, claiming the real death toll was significantly higher than the Palestinian Health Ministry's, which shows over 39,000 people have been killed.
"With only marginal exceptions, everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both," the medics stated, referring to national aid workers, international volunteers, and civilians.
Israeli occupation snipers were intentionally targeting civilians, the health volunteers told The Guardian, stressing in their letter that the majority of Palestinians are women and children.
"We cannot forget the scenes of unbearable cruelty directed at women and children that we witnessed ourselves," they added in the letter.
"Israel's" international humanitarian law violations were also depicted in the letter, warning that "epidemics are raging in Gaza" due to the occupation's continuous displacement of malnourished and sick civilians, and the deprivation of running water and sanitation.
'Most traumatized people in the entire world'
The healthcare signatories described their Palestinian counterparts as "among the most traumatized people in Gaza, and perhaps in the entire world," due to their commitment to continue working despite losing their family members and homes, highlighting they often worked long hours without pay while malnourished.
"Israel has targeted our colleagues in Gaza for death, disappearance, and torture," they said. "These unconscionable acts are entirely at odds with American law, American values, and international humanitarian law."
Individual experiences of healthcare workers
"'Israel' has directly targeted and deliberately devastated Gaza's entire healthcare system," the letter stated, including individual accounts of healthcare workers recounting their horrific experiences during "Israel's" daily bombardment and assault on the small region.
The forty-five health volunteers include surgeons, emergency room physicians, and nurses from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other relief institutions who recently worked at hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
Trauma and critical care surgeon Feroze Sidhwa said he had "never seen such horrific injuries, on such a massive scale, with so few resources."
Medical practitioners who worked in the maternity ward described regular stillbirths and maternal deaths that could have been prevented under normal circumstances.
A pediatric nurse practitioner recounted witnessing healthy babies dying on a daily basis from starvation due to their mothers' inability to breastfeed from malnourishment, and the lack of baby formula and clean water.
"We wish you could hear the cries and screams our consciences will not let us forget. We cannot believe that anyone would continue arming the country that is deliberately killing these children after seeing what we have seen," the letter said.
